Main navigation

Georgia’s state flag will soon be a topic of debate. Here’s why.

The debate over the Confederate battle flag flying near the South Carolina state capitol building has surely been one of the biggest domestic stories of this young week, and for good reason.

But it’s about to get a lot closer to home, fellow Georgians.

From 1956 to 2001, about two-thirds of the Georgia state flag was the Confederate battle flag – the same one that has flown in Columbia, South Carolina. After much debate that it wasn’t right to have that image on the state flag, Georgia voted to change it to a dark blue flag that featured the state seal, with each of the state’s past designs for the state flag at the bottom.

In 2003, Georgia’s lawmakers decided they (correctly) thought the design was horrible, and wanted another new state flag. So they held a vote, and after 73 percent of the state voted in favor of the new design, it became the new Georgia state flag that remains today.

But that flag will likely cause controversy in the coming days and weeks as the debate about Confederate symbols rages on. This is the design for the first flag of the Confederate States of America, which later became known as the “Stars and Bars:”

And here’s the current Georgia state flag, which became the official state flag 12 years ago:

Granted, this is not the embattled battle flag, but it’s another symbol of the Confederacy, and its shelf life as the state flag is probably getting shorter by the day.

Like this:

4Comments

I have often wondered when the origins of our current state flag design would become a more public discussion. I’m not sure most Georgians realize where this design came from. It will be interesting to see what happens as this comes into focus.

Leave the damn thing alone! Black people need to worry more about black on black crime. It’s way worse than white on black. As of a matter of fact their is way more black on white violence too! Somebody needs to put that in the mainstream of news!

Do not post comments like those of Brian Poole if you clearly do not understand the depth of what you are talking about. Clearly Brian cannot be trusted judging by the fact that he used the incorrect form of there and writes like a three year old. My deepest condolences AP Hill because this is an important issue that matters to many Georgians and I hope for your sake you realize that soon. Why should our state be represented by a symbol of the confederacy and all of the twisted things they believed in? It shouldn’t. We need a new state flag, and we need it now.